1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to personal security devices and more particularly pertains to an alarm system for precluding a child from straying which may be used for automatically monitoring the presence of a small child within a radius defined by the length of an cable connected between the child and the child's guardian whereby an audible alarm is activated upon disconnecting or cutting of the cable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of cable activated strayed child alarms is known in the prior art. More specifically, cable activated strayed child alarms heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of automatically monitoring the presence of a small child are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
The present invention is directed to improving devices for automatically monitoring the presence of a small child within a radius defined by the length of an cable connected between the child and the child's guardian whereby an audible alarm is activated upon disconnecting or cutting of the cable in a manner which is safe, secure, economical and aesthetically pleasing.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,794 to Lawrence discloses a personal emergency locator system consisting of a radio transmitter in a miniaturized transceiver concealed on a person to be located, such as a lost child, is activated and transmits a coded UHF radio homing signal upon receipt of an initiating signal containing the child's address code. The initiating signal is automatically transmitted by a repeater station in response to an audible "panic signal" containing the address code and contains the identical address code. The panic signal is a pulse tone produced by a hand held tone generator activated by the child's parent and is transmitted to the repeater station by telephone. Tracking vehicles are provided with automatic UHF radio direction finding and distance measuring equipment for locating the source of the homing signal. Stored information concerning the child can be transmitted to the tracking vehicle. The invention disclosed operates on a wide area and is unsuitable for instantaneous warning of a strayed child as in a shopping mall or supermarket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,284 to Leveille et al. describes an abduction-preventing collar consisting of two legs pivoted to each other at one end by a hinge member and releasably locked to each other at the other end by a key operated lock. The legs are made of shear-resistant material. A radio signal generating and transmitting device and autonomous power supply are housed within the collar. A trigger switch is closed to activate the device upon opening of a flap by the abducted collar wearer, and circuitry including a silicone controlled rectifier, causes activation if the transmitter and characterized by the impossibility of deactivation thereof, short of complete discharge of the power supply, as long as the lock locks the legs of the collar around the wrist, neck or ankle of the wearer. The invention described makes no provision for warning when the wearer leaves a predescribed control area.
The prior art also discloses a distance monitor especially for child surveillance as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,291 to Hawthorne and an apparatus for monitoring child activity as described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,072 to Hemingway both of which consists of a radio transmitting device affixed to the person to be monitored and separate receiving/monitoring apparatus for providing an indication of the distance from the receiver to the child-born transmitter. Both the inventions disclosed are unreliable because of the unpredictable nature of the radio propagation upon which their operation is based.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,135 to Ghahariiran shows a child monitoring device as an ultra-sonic or radio-frequency monitoring system comprising a transmitting unit carried by the child and a receiving unit carried by the child's guardian that will alert the guardian when the child strays beyond a predescribed distance, is abducted or falls into water. The device described has no fail-safe provision for child monitoring in the event the child loses or is relieved of the transmitter unit.
In this respect, the cable activated strayed child alarm according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of automatically monitoring the presence of a small child within a radius defined by the length of an cable connected between the child and the child's guardian whereby an audible alarm is activated upon disconnecting or cutting of the cable.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved alarm system for precluding a child from straying which can be used for automatically monitoring the presence of a small child within a radius defined by the length of an cable connected between the child and the child's guardian whereby an audible alarm is activated upon disconnecting or cutting of the cable. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
As illustrated by the background art, efforts are continuously being made in an attempt to develop devices for automatically monitoring the presence of a small child within a radius defined by the length of an cable connected between the child and the child's guardian whereby an audible alarm is activated upon disconnecting or cutting of the cable. No prior effort, however, provides the benefits attendant with the present invention. Additionally, the prior patents and commercial techniques do not suggest the present inventive combination of component elements arranged and configured as disclosed and claimed herein.
The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objects, and advantages through a new, useful and unobvious combination of method steps and component elements, with the use of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture, and by employing only readily available materials.